It's Washington's job

Immigration ruling shows where the real responsibility lies

Arizona apparently went too far in cracking down on illegal immigration.

But only because the federal government has failed – spectacularly – to go far enough.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Arizona immigration law case makes it clear that we’re not going to be able to fix a broken federal government from state capitals.

The 5-3 ruling struck down three of four parts of the Arizona law – though, notably, not the most important and most debated part: The justices let stand the portion requiring police to check the immigration status of detainees.

Remember how President Obama railed against the Arizona immigration checks and their potential for racism? Even his own appointee voted to uphold it.

The three portions of the law struck down involved state penalties for being in the country illegal, which the majority ruled is the purview of the federal government.

Scalia lamented the majority’s decision to rein in Arizona, writing in his own opinion, “What I do fear – and what Arizona and the states that support it fear – is that ‘federal policies’ of nonenforcement will leave the states helpless before those evil effects of illegal immigration. Arizona bears the brunt of the country’s illegal immigration problem. Federal officials have been unable to remedy the problem, and indeed have recently shown that they are unwilling to do so.”

He’s right. But with Monday’s decision, it’s clear we have to fix Washington rather than go around it.

Of course, any responsive, responsible federal government wouldn’t have to be “gotten around” in the first place. It would have noted that one, and in fact more, of our sovereign states is desperate to secure the border. And it would have done its constitutional duty to do so, for the states that created it.

Instead of suing the states, Washington ought to be apologizing to them!

The fact remains that Washington is broken. And it can’t be fixed from Phoenix.

This ruling will no doubt be held up as proof of the need for “comprehensive immigration reform.” Hogwash. What we need is “comprehensive start enforcing the laws we have on the books” reform. We need to secure the border.

And now we know for certain whose job it is.

If the federal government scored a partial victory in this case, we all lost – because the Pyrrhic victory will only obscure the real issue:

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Rather than acknowledging that immigration is the federal government's job and stepping up to the plate, the President immediately has ICE cut off all partnerships with the state and all agencies within the state.

That sounds like something my 3-year-old son would do.

Mr. President, do your job or step aside and let someone else do it. If nothing else, at least pretend to be a leader.

We can't enforce or change immigration laws until we have secured the border. It just won't work that way. Once we get the border secure, then we can look to change the immigration policies. People say its unrealistic to build a fence over 800 miles of border, yet we built railroads completely across this Country way before we even had power tools. Someone came up with the idea that they wanted to create a way to go to the moon, 8 years later a person was standing on the moon. Will you still say we can't build a fence???????

Of course if you live in Arizona now the federal government will ignore you! Chicago style politics in America. I guess those American citizens that live in Arizona or American citizens that pass through Arizona can expect more of this “capture and release" because of lack of cooperation by Obama and his administration! http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/06/virginia-official-calls-congr...

Jon lester, how did "reproduction"get injected into immigration? Liberals' attention spans seem to be very short. Go ahead and play the race card! I know hussein has deported more illegal immigrants than bush(bush deported 15 and hussein has deported 16) and i also know that hussein has decided which laws will be enforced(he put his hand on a bible and swore to uphold and enforce all laws) for which he should be impeached!

Former Pres. George W. Bush and current Republican candidate Mitt Romney are very similar politically; Romney's foreign policy team is stacked with Bush administration veterans, and his economic plan is essentially Bush's on steroids. They were both prep school cheerleaders, They're both bullies, They both have serious daddy issues. They both total teetotalers. They both have Mexican relatives. They both used family connections to dodge Vietnam.

The feds have been instructed to not respond to Arizona's arrest of illegals. In other words, they are not taking illegals caught and are making AZ let them go. They are announcing to Mexico that AZ is wide open. Is this civil war initiated by the feds or what? But Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he has a surprise for the feds the way he is going to handle things. I hope it means the illegals end up in his tent city, barbed wire county jail. We will see how this plays out.

why is the left celebrating the non-enforcement of our immigration laws??? why does the prez seem more concerned about employmemnt for illegals than the high unemployment of the legal youth of this country..why does the prez seem to be more concerned about free benefits for ilegals than our debt that will destroy the american way of life for everyone..we are a country of immigrates..we are suppose to be a country of laws..with a prez who swore to uphold them..we now are a country without borders and a prez who acts like a king where law is no longer law except for his word....so go ahead and rejoice..when liberties and freedom are finally eroded away it will affect the left too..

In 2006 The bush administration tried to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Guess who voted it down? Republicans. In 2010 the obama administration tries to pass the Dream act. Guess who voted it down? Republicans. So when you say Washington is broken. You really mean republicans wont vote for laws that fix the break.

And targeting people who may look hispanic to prove that they are here legally is discrimination. You are only targeting one group specifically. Thats discrimination not racism.

Fact is, this is a huge blow to the obama administration. The portion that the Supreme Court held up is Constitutional - something the obama administration cringes at. Obama believes our Constitution is old & outdated and something to be scoffed at & stomped on.

The three parts that were struck down are already Federal laws - so allowing Arizona to enforce them would seem to be redundant - that is if our federal govt was actually doing their job.

Huge defeat for obama. Huge win for the Constitution and our laws.

Now I'm eagerly awaiting the Healthcare decision, which likely will deal another huge blow to Mr. Anti-Constitution. I'm sure obama will spin it though. He's had a few months to craft his response since his appointee, Sotomayor, allegedly tipped him off to their decision.

Obama now has 2 grand titles. He took the Worst President Ever title from Jimmy Carter (who, in an odd twist of fate, is now speaking out against obama). He also took the title of "Most Crooked President Ever" from Nixon (Solyndra, Fast & Furious, Anti-Constitutional actions).

MYFATHER, your 3:38 post was right on the mark! When your boat is sinking, you plug the hole FIRST, then start getting the water out. Our country simply cannot continue to let illegals have their way and thumb their noses at our immigration laws. But, Obama has shown that he will continue the policies of other presidents, Democrat and Republican, and let them have their way. While we don't know what Romney will do with this issue, we sure know what Obama has done...which is thumb his own nose at immigration law. TIME FOR MORE "CHANGE!"

"The justices let stand the portion requiring police to check the immigration status of detainees...." As usual, MR and ACES tell only the part of the story they approve. It is true that the court preserved just one of the four parts of the Arizona law, the part allowing police to ask for "immigration status" where there is "reasonable cause" to suspect an individual may not be in the U.S. legally. But ACES simply skipped the not-so-fine-print in which the court made clear that while this provision is not unconstitutional on its face, it may well be in practice. The court took a wait-and-see position, warning that the remaining Arizona provision may be susceptible to civil rights challenges. I predict Arizona will fail this test and the remaining part of the law will go too....

You're accusing Romney of having daddy issues? At least he had a daddy in his life, not some lying, cheating, parasite bigamous who was never around. Hey, you opened this Pandora's Box. You want to get into this issue, I'm ready.

With the revenge stunt Obama pulled yesterday against Arizona, he has completed his conversion from liberal "I don't like America" politician to the dictator he really wants to be. He refuses to comply with the law and he refuses to comply with his constitutional duties. He resents the Constitution and he thumbs his nose at the Supreme Court. He is telling Arizona to drop dead and be damned for wanting the laws enforced. Obama seems to like all of these "Springs" overthrowing dictators in the middle east and I think it's time we had one here.

"I predict Arizona will fail this test." EEL, are you hoping for this? When we celebrate the failure of our government to enforce the laws, we are truly lost as a society. Every other nation in the world, including the hypocrites in Mexico, have borders and enforce those borders. Some, again like Mexico, enforce them strictly. I've been to the southern Mexican border. The fence there is manned 24/7, and the guards are ordered to shoot to kill. But, for some reason, there are those who think the US has no right to secure our border and enforce our immigration laws. Pitiful, just pitiful.